Getting Back in the Swing of Things

As I'm sitting here updating my blog, I noticed that I haven't posted since June!  I mean, I know it was slow around here, but I didn't think it was that long!  The summer was very slow around here because everyone was off enjoying vacations.  Then, in late September, early October, I was on my vacation ... 3 days in Disney World, and my 4th Tim Holtz Cruise (to the Caribbean)!  Now that I have all my pictures back, I really should post about some of our adventures.  Well, that's for another day.  Four days after I returned home from vacation, I underwent surgery on my left rotator cuff.  Why, oh why, did I do that?  I mean, it wasn't really bothering me, but the MRI showed a complete tear, so I figured I'd better get it fixed.  Well, yesterday was the 4-week anniversary since the surgery, and it still aches!  I'm a third of the way through physical therapy, and I return to work at Michaels next week.

Speaking of returning to work, I'm going to resume my classes here in my home classroom.  I'm going to return to the same schedule:

Evening Classes:
1st Monday of the month:  Techniques Class, 7:30pm, $15  (Nov. 7th)
2nd Monday of the month:  Scrapbooking Layout, 7:30pm, $15  (Nov. 14th)
3rd Monday of the month:  Stamp-a-Stack, 7:30pm, $25  (Nov. 21st)

Morning Classes (following the 1st Monday of the month):
1st Wednesday:  Techniques Class, 10am, $15  (Nov. 9th)
2nd Wednesday:  Scrapbooking Layout, 10am, $15  (Nov. 16th)
3rd Wednesday:  Stamp-a-Stack, 10am, $25  (Nov. 23rd)

This month's crop night will be held on Friday, November 18th, 6-11pm, $15

I've finished my card making appointments, and the orders are all in.  I've already scheduled 4 dates for card-making sessions, and here are the dates for the final 6 sessions: 
Saturday, Nov. 19th 2pm-4pm
Sunday, Nov. 20th 2pm-4pm
Friday, Nov. 25th 7:30pm-9:30pm
Friday, Dec. 2nd 7:30pm-9:30pm
Tuesday, Dec. 6th 7:30pm-9:30pm
Friday, Dec. 9th 7:30pm-9:30pm

And, finally, Stampin' Up! is having another great promotion!  If you book a workshop, and your total party orders are over $350, you'll get an EXTRA $35 to spend on top of the great benefits you already receive!  So, it's another great time to host a workshop!  Contact me today to schedule one anytime before December 15th to take advantage of this deal.


































 

I Can't Believe There's NO Stamping!

Can you believe it?  Not one bit of ink ... none, zip, zero!  But, can you see it?  Those swirls are stitched!  I've been wanting to make this spread for a LONG time (a couple of years!).  I used the In Stitch'z templates from Bazzill, and as soon as I saw these in the store, I pictured them being used just like this.

I created these pages while I was at Kelly's Anime Convention in Somerset last weekend.  In fact, one of my graduates, Dawn, from my SDU course at Michaels, came down to the convention with her daughter, Arianna, and her friend, Maria (two adorable girls!).  We walked around a bit with the girls until they felt comfortable, and then Dawn & I went up to my room to create!  I worked on these pages, and Dawn made some awesome cards with her new stamp supplies she got from my workshop.  We had a great time, and I'm so glad they came down.  We're gonna have many Anime Conventions in our futures!  lol

Getting back to the pages, here they are close up.



I used Baja Breeze for the background, Crumb Cake for the sand, and Whisper White & Marina Mist for the waves.  The envelopes were made with Marina Mist using the retired envelope template, and I created my own template for the little Crumb Cake tags.  I also added a white eyelet to each tag and some of the same fiber I used to stitch the swirls.

I really enjoyed making these pages, and my mind's racing with other projects to come!

Hooo, Hoooo, Hooooooo!

 Everybody has been asking for this card, and we finally made it!  I had to order a new XL owl punch because I don't know what I did with mine (why is it the expensive items are the ones I misplace?).  This card is almost exactly the same as the one my friend, Pat Mitello, designed, except she used Marina Mist cardstock, DSP & ribbon.  I had to change to Old Olive because I didn't own any Marina Mist DSP, and I really like this card in the green.

Pat designed this card for our group's shoebox swap in January to promote items from our Sale-a-Bration mini catalog.  Both stamp sets used were FREE from that catalog:  Punch Bunch & So Happy For You.  We also used the Woodgrain background stamp as well.

Although this card is adorable, lots of punches and steps were involved, so my other two cards for this week's Techniques class were much quicker to make.

Here are the deets:  Old Olive cardstock, DSP & 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Naturals White cardstock for the base layer, Early Espresso cardstock for the awnings, small circle, branch & ink, Whisper White cardstock for the owl & woodgrained piece; Soft Suede cardstock for the large circle ring, and Crumb Cake cardstock for the sign.

For punches:  2-1/2" Circle, 1-3/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, 2-Step Bird XL, 2-Step Owl XL, 1/16" Circle, Scallop Edge Border.

For accessories:  Basic Pearl, Linen Thread, Versamarker, Embossing Buddy, ruler, heat tool, Stamp-a-ma-jig & Crystal Effects.

 This card looks real complicated, and I have to admit, I was nervous myself about making my first one, but it's so simple!  This card (actually all 3 cards) I made at the shoebox swap in January.  This one was based on a design by Dale Morin.  I changed the DSP and the saying inside, but the rest is all Dale.

We used Very Vanilla cardstock for the base, Real Red cardstock for the "ribbons", and Sending Love Specialty DSP for the ends.  Oh, and how could I forget the fabulous Glimmer paper for the heart!  I'm not a glitz lover, but this paper is awesome!  Thanks Dale, for getting me to try some!

We also used Real Red ink inside for the saying from the All Holidays stamp set.  For accessories, we used the Full Heart punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch, the Movers & Shapers die with the heart from the Punch Windows die set, and of course, the Big Shot.

And, finally, this last card was based on another design by Dale.  Almost everything is exactly the same, except she used the Easter Blossom set from the Occasions mini catalog, and Marina Mist satin ribbon.  Since I don't have that set, or that ribbon, I substituted a stamp from Artfully Asian and we used 5/8" Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon.

The base of the card is Wild Wasabi with a layer of Very Vanilla.  The frame is the Framed Tulips embossing folder run through the Big Shot.  The stamping was done on Glossy paper w/Black StazOn ink.  Springtime Vintage DSP is at the bottom.  We added some Basic Pearls, white crayon, and sponged on Marina Mist & Wild Wasabi ink.

It's All Gotta GO!

This weekend is my BIG yard sale I'm having with 3 other Stampin' Up! demonstrators (rain or shine).  We're holding the sale on Sunday, June 5th from 10am-4pm here at my home, but all our customers are invited to a special PREVIEW sale on Saturday, June 4th from 10am-1pm!

Although we can't sell items from the just released retiring lists from this catalog, we do have LOTS of items from the past:  stamp sets, papers, inks, scrapbooking items, storage, all type of bags & totes, and more!  And, everything's priced to go!  I mean low, low, LOW prices!

We'll also have lots of household items too, including furniture, a boys bicycle, oversized snowboard with bindings, and a boat dock box.  And, that's just my stuff ... just imagine what the 3 other demonstrators will be bringing to the sale!  All I can say is, IT'S GONNA BE HUGE!

Last Chance!

Today's the big day ... the sad day ... the day we find out which sets will be retiring from Stampin' Up!  I usually look at this day with dread, but also with anticipation.  Why?  Because in just one month, the new catalog will be released with LOADS of new stamp sets & accessories!  And, don't forget, FIVE new In Colors!  Oooh, I just got goosebumps!

There are 3 retiring lists to click on:  Stamps, accessories & Definitely Decorative.  There are plenty of stamps, but the accessories & Definitely Decorative items are only available while supplies last, so it's recommended that if you want to order something, you should do it directly from my website here, since the website always has the updated list of items still available.

Lots of Roses!

One of my customers requested specific colors and roses for this month's scrapbook page, so I always try to please.  As soon as she requested it, the ideas started flowing in my little brain.  I originally was thinking of using paper flowers, dyeing them & layering them, but too many people signed up for my classes, and I'd litterally have gone through hundreds!  And, after all, this class is to teach you scrapbooking with rubber stamps, so of course, I used the retired set, Roses in Winter.

I had 4 ladies here for yesterday morning's class, and they were all beginners, soooooo, almost 5 hours later, they finally finished!  lol  I worked on this spread over the weekend doing a little here & there, but I don't think it should've taken that long!  lol  We'll see if it goes any faster for my evening group.  We were supposed to have the class this past Monday, but a couple couldn't make it, so I re-scheduled the class for next Tuesday (there's still room if you want to join us).

Here's a closer look at the pages:

Here's the left side page, and below, the right:

We used lots of different techniques on these pages that are hard to see in these pics.  For example, we used Versamark ink in a cartridge and rolled the Rough Texture jumbo wheel over the Crumb Cake base pages.  We also stamped a base layer of about 20-25 roses directly on the Whisper White cardstock.  Then, we stamped an additional 15 roses and 20 leaves on more Whisper White and cut them out.  We popped them up with Dimensionals and layered them all over the stamped base of roses.  The rose colors are So Saffron, Regal Rose, Rose Red, and the leaves are Garden Green.

We used the Top Note Bigz Die for the journaling block and trimmed off the outer edge on the Crumb Cake so we could layer it on some Regal Rose.  I stamped some roses off the edges, but I might just make a couple more roses and cut them out and pop them up on the journaling tag.

We also used the Scallop Edge punch along the bottom, and punched strips of Regal Rose with the Dotted Ribbon punch, which we then stitched 'X's in them with white embroidery floss and layered them above the scalloped edge.

And, finally, for the title, we used the Headline Alphabet with Regal Rose Craft ink and Whimsical Upper Alphabet with Rose Red Craft ink, which was then outlined with White Gel Pen.

These ladies were so cute ... they were saying "but my daughter doesn't have curls," or "I have no pictures of girls with curls."  lol  As I said, they're beginners.  So, I suggested Spring themed titles, or Mother's Day, etc.  Since it's Spring now, I told them they could always take their kids to the park and take some pics and make the title "Spring Fun," or "Spring has Sprung!"  So, one lady opted for the latter, one did "My Beautiful Girls," one did "Easter 2011", and the 4th lady had to leave, so she's going to finish her pages at her next class.

Can't wait to see what my evening class comes up with!

Ooops! I forgot!

As I was designing the scrapbook spread for my next class, I realized that I never posted the cards from last week's Technique class.  Ooops!

This first card was soooo very simple!  We used a product called Flower Soft on the tops of the flowers.  I chose to use this product because a couple of weeks ago, some of my students & I went to the Heirloom Stamp Festival in Allentown, PA.  One of the make 'n takes was with Flower Soft, and it was so much fun to use!  I mentioned that I had some of this, and the girls wanted to use it on a card, so what's my motto?  You ask for it, you get it!  The cardstock was Perfect Plum & Whisper White; Herb Expressions stamp set; Framed Tulips embossing folder; Perfect Plum ink and an Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon bow.  Simple!

This next card was watercolored because another student stated that she wanted to try watercoloring.  We used watercolor paper, Cajun Craze & Early Espresso cardstock; Black StazOn ink and the following watercolor crayon colors:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Always Artichoke, More Mustard & Pumpkin Pie.  We also used a buckle from the retired Hodgepodge Hardware in Aged Copper on some 1/4" Twill Tape.  The embossing folder was one of Tim Holtz's Alterations called Woodgrain.

And, finally, this last card had lots of techniques:  3-step stamping, stamping off, Color Spritzer, Distressing, and our Pearl Jewels.  I used our retired notecard & envelopes, but you can still get them ... they're just a little bigger than these.  We stamped using the retired Roses in Winter set (love, love, LOVE this set!  I just used it on this month's scrapbook spread!), with Regal Rose, Old Olive, Marina Mist & Basic Black inks.  We used the Chocolate Chip marker in the Color Spritzer tool, and the Tea Stain inkpad from our Distressing Kit.